Dump Truck Sales Double on Windsor Construction Boom

Dump truck sales in Windsor are soaring in order to meet the demand created by the $1.4-billion Windsor-Essex Parkway.

“Sales have probably doubled, maybe more,” said Frank Kemski, who owns and operates 401 Mack, a sales centre in Windsor.

Kemski said he will see a $5-million sales increase this year over last.

“We thought there was going to be an increase [in sales] prior to the project but we were a little premature,” Kemski said. “But once they started, guys have been in here buying. Guys have increased their fleet. For some guys, it’s their first time in the business.”

Construction of the 11-kilometre, multi-lane highway that will link Highway 401 to a new international crossing started in August 2011.

Approximately 150 trucks are being used to move dirt out of and around the massive highway project.

Most of the nearly 4 million cubic metres of dirt moved from the project will be will be used in the project itself. It will be turned into embankments and as part of the landscaping.

However, 1.3 million cubic metres of dirt — the equivalent of 100,000 truckloads — will be trucked from the project and put into an old landfill in Essex County.

“They’ll be busy for the next two or three years, I’m assuming,” Kemski said of the truckers. “The whole thing has been very positive for guys in this business.”

It’s not only truck sales that have spiked. So has the number of trucks being serviced.

“The other thing that’s taken off is the parts and service side,” Kemski said.